Vikings’ dream season ends one win shy of state

 ATLANTIC -- It wasn’t that AHSTW played poorly and lost in Saturday’s Class 2-A, Substate 7 final. On this night, the Vikings simply got beat by a great basketball team performing at the top of its game.
 An outstanding dream season ended one step short of the ultimate goal for the Viking boys as Van Meter put together a near-perfect third quarter and secured its first state tournament berth since 1936 with an impressive 73-53 win at Atlantic High School.
 AHSTW, still searching for that elusive first trip to state, finished 21-3 overall and claimed its first Western Iowa Conference title since 2005. A March trip to Des Moines, though, will have to wait at least one more year for the consolidation of Avoca, Hancock, Shelby, Tennant and Walnut.
 Shelby qualified for state three times in the 1950s and Walnut qualified in 2000, but Avoca, AvoHa, AHST and AHSTW have yet to play in the boys state tournament.